A patriot's handbook : songs, poems, stories, and speeches celebrating the land we love / selected and introduced by Caroline Kennedy.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Kennedy, Caroline, 1957-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Speeches, addresses, etc., American.

Patriotism--Literary collections.

Patriotism.

Patriotism--United States.

United States.

Patriotic poetry, American.

American literature.

United States--Literary collections.

Genre:

Literary collections.

Literature.

Physical Description:

xxiii, 663 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Hyperion, [2003]

Summary:

When John F. Kennedy called America "the land we love" more than forty years ago, he was reminding us of the lofty ideals on which our country was founded. But what are those ideals, and how have Americans defined them? Is America the land of George Washington and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who rallied the country's spirits for unity in wartime, or is it a land of dissent, a land in which Frederick Douglass, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Martin Luther King Jr. remind us of our duty to protect our most fundamental freedoms? Are we defined by the speeches of Thomas Jefferson and Ronald Reagan, or by the humor of H. L. Mencken and Mark Twain?

Caroline Kennedy's answer in A Patriot's Handbook is that we are all of these things and more. In fact, the America you will meet in these pages is one that derives its strength from its diversity, and from the way our variety allows us constantly to reinvent ourselves. We are a country of poets, from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow to Langston Hughes; we are a country of songwriters, from Irving Berlin to Woody Guthrie. We are a country of "The Pledge of Allegiance," but also of "The Times They Are A-Changin'."

The poems, songs, speeches, letters, and historical documents Caroline has chosen for this remarkable collection remind us of the foundations on which America was built. But they also ask us to examine what it truly means to be a "patriot," even if our assumptions are challenged along the way. Because it is only by doing so that America can "truly be our own." A Patriot's Handbook is a book that every family should own, a valuable resource that can be shared for years to come.

Contents:

The Flag

The Star-Spangled Banner, Francis Scott Key and John Stafford Smith, 1814 5

The Pledge of Allegiance, 1892 7

The Battle Cry of Freedom, George Frederick Root, c. 1861 8

The Flag Goes By, Henry Holcomb Bennett, c. 1900 9

You're a Grand Old Flag, George M. Cohan, 1906 10

West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnett, 319 U.S. 624 (1943) 11

Flags, Gwendolyn Brooks, 1944 15

The Mike Christian Story, John McCain, 1971 16

Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989) 18

U.S. Blues, Grateful Dead, 1973 21

God Bless the U.S.A., Lee Greenwood, 1984 22

Visions of America

John Winthrop, A Model of Christian Charity, 1630 32

George Washington, Farewell Address, September 19, 1796 34

Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1801 41

Daniel Webster, Dedication of the Bunker Hill Monument, June 17, 1825 45

The Ship of State, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1849 48

Theodore Roosevelt, The Strenuous Life, April 10, 1899 49

Let America Be America Again, Langston Hughes, July 1936 54

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Second Inaugural Address, January 20, 1937 57

John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961 61

The Times They Are A-Changin', Bob Dylan, c. 1963 65

First Words Spoken by a Man on the Moon, July 20, 1969 67

Ronald Reagan, Farewell Address, January 11, 1989 69

Portraits of Americans

Yankee Doodle, 1755 76

Letters from an American Farmer; J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur, 1782 78

Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville, 1835 79

Democracy, Henry Adams, 1880 81

The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde, 1891 83

Dangers of the Dress Suit in Politics, George Washington Plunkitt, 1905 85

Take Me Out to the Ball Game, Albert Von Tilzer and Jack Norworth, 1908 88

On Being an American, H. L. Mencken, 1922 90

As Regards Patriotism, Mark Twain, c. 1900 94

I Like Americans, Edna St. Vincent Millay, 1924 96

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1925 98

American Names, Stephen Vincent Benet, 1927 100

The 42nd Parallel, John Dos Passos, 1930 102

You're the Top, Cole Porter, 1934 105

The Story of a Novel, Thomas Wolfe, 1936 108

Hollywood, Truman Capote, 1950 109

The Last Gentleman, Walker Percy, 1966 111

How to Tame a Wild Tongue, Gloria Anzaldua, 1987 113

A Country and a Conundrum, Anna Quindlen, 2002 116

Rule of Law

The Constitution of the United States, 1787 125

Benjamin Franklin, The Constitutional Convention, Speech at the Conclusion of Its Deliberations, September 17, 1787 143

Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1803) 145

Civil Disobedience, Henry David Thoreau, 1849 147

Abraham Lincoln, First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1861 150

The United States of America v. Susan B. Anthony, 1873 157

To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee, 1960 162

Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from Birmingham City Jail, April 16, 1963 165

Lyndon B. Johnson, Special Message to the Congress: The American Promise, March 15, 1965 170

Duncan v. Louisiana, 391 U.S. 145 (1968) 175

Barbara Jordan, Opening Statement to the House Judiciary Committee, Proceedings on Impeachment of Richard Nixon, July 25, 1974 178

Gerald R. Ford, Remarks on Taking the Oath of Office, August 9, 1974 181

Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. 98 (2000) 183

Freedom

The Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, 1776 192

But, Mister Adams (from the Broadway musical 1776), Sherman Edwards, 1964 197

America, Samuel Francis Smith, 1832 200

Frederick Douglass, If I Had a Country, I Should Be a Patriot, September 24, 1847 202

Annie Davis, Letter to President Lincoln, August 25, 1864 204

Sympathy, Paul Laurence Dunbar, 1893 205

Freedom, E. B. White, July 1940 206

As freedom is a breakfastfood, E. E. Cummings, 1940 211

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, State of the Union Address, January 6, 1941 213

Judge Learned Hand, Address at "I Am an American" Day, Central Park, New York, May 21, 1944 220

I've Got the Light of Freedom, Pete Seeger 222

Ronald Reagan, Address to Students, Moscow State University, May 31, 1988 223

Freedom of Speech and of the Press

Andrew Hamilton, Statement at Trial of John Peter Zenger; 1735 229

Abrams v. U.S., 250 U.S. 616 (1919) 232

Whitney v. California, 274 U.S. 357 (1927) 236

Margaret Chase Smith, Remarks to the Senate in Support of a Declaration of Conscience, June 1, 1950 240

New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964) 244

Freedom of Religion

Amazing Grace, John Newton, 1779, 1829 (last stanza) 251

Chief Red Jacket, Speech Against Missionaries' Efforts to Baptize Members of the Seneca Tribe, 1805 254

John F. Kennedy, Speech to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association, September 12, 1960 256

Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (1962) 259

Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, 122 S. Ct. 2460 (2002) 264

The Right to be Let Alone

James Otis, Statement Against the Writs of Assistance, Boston, 1761 269

Olmstead v. U.S., 277 U.S. 438 (1928) 271

Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992) 275

Equality

Abigail Adams, Letter to John Adams, March 31, 1776 287

John Adams, Letter to Abigail Adams, April 14, 1776 288

Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, Seneca Falls Convention, 1848 289

Sojourner Truth, Ain't I a Woman?, May 1851 293

James Weldon Johnson, Lift Every Voice and Sing, 1900 294

Jeannette Rankin, Speech in Congress on Women's Rights and Wartime Service, January 10, 1918 296

Incident, Countee Cullen, 1925 299

Merry-Go-Round, Langston Hughes, 1942 301

Can a Woman Ever Be President of the United States?, Eleanor Roosevelt, 1935 302

Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954) 306

The Chicago Defender Sends a Man to Little Rock, Fall 1957, Gwendolyn Brooks, 1960 312

John F. Kennedy, Televised Address to the Nation, June 11, 1963 315

Martin Luther King Jr., Address at the March on Washington, August 28, 1963 321

Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique, 1963 325

Fannie Lou Hamer, The Special Plight and the Role of the Black Woman, May 7, 1971 328

Frontiero v. Richardson, 411 U.S. 677 (1973) 330

Edward M. Kennedy, Statement on Americans with Disabilities Act, May 9, 1989 332

Hillary Rodham Clinton, Address to the Fourth UN World Conference on Women, Beijing, China, September 5, 1993 336

William Jefferson Clinton, Remarks on Affirmative Action, July 19, 1995 340

Baker v. State, 170 Vt. 194 (1999) 347

The Individual

Simple Gifts, Joseph Brackett, 1848 355

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance, 1841 356

Henry David Thoreau, Walden, 1854 360

Songs of the Sacred Mysteries, Sioux, 1869 364

The Sorrow Songs (from The Souls of Black Folk), W. E. B. Du Bois, 1903 367

The Road Not Taken, Robert Frost, 1916 370

Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison, 1947 371

William Faulkner, Address Upon Receiving the Nobel Prize, December 10, 1950 374

Lillian Hellman, Letter to the House Committee on Un-American Activities, and Reply (from Scoundrel Time), 1952 375

Robert F. Kennedy, Day of Affirmation, Cape Town University, June 6, 1966 379

Martin Luther King Jr., The Drum Major Instinct, February 4, 1968 383

In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens, Alice Walker, 1974 387

War and Peace

Chief Logan, Speech After Defeat by the Virginia Militia, 1774 397

Patrick Henry, Speech to the Second Virginia Convention, March 23, 1775 398

Thomas Paine, Common Sense, February 14, 1776 400

Paul Revere's Ride, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1863 403

The Monroe Doctrine, 1823 408

The Battle Hymn of the Republic, Julia Ward Howe, 1861 410

Shiloh, a Requiem, Herman Melville, April 1862 411

Abraham Lincoln, Final Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863 412

Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863 415

Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865 418

Memoirs, Ulysses S. Grant, 1885-1886 420

Chief Joseph, Surrender to the U.S. Army, 1877 421

The Marines' Song, 1891 422

Do Not Weep, Maiden, for War Is Kind, Stephen Crane, 1899 423

The Caisson Song, Edmund L.

Gruber, 1907 425

Woodrow Wilson, War Message to Congress, April 2, 1917 426

Over There, George M. Cohan, 1917 430

The Unknown Soldier; Billy Rose 431

September 1, 1939, W. H. Auden, 1941 433

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, War Message to Congress, December 8, 1941 436

The Gift Outright, Robert Frost, 1942 438

Martial Cadenza, Wallace Stevens, 1954 440

Dwight D. Eisenhower, The Great Crusade, June 6, 1944 442

J. Robert Oppenheimer, On the Atomic Bomb, 1945 446

Albert Einstein, The Fateful Decision, 1948 447

Harry S. Truman, Address to the Nation on Korea, April 11, 1951 449

Dwight D. Eisenhower, Farewell Address, January 17, 1961 454

Blowin' in the Wind, Bob Dylan, 1962 458

John F. Kennedy, Commencement Address at American University, June 10, 1963 459

Vietnam Veterans Against the War, John Kerry, 1971 465

Born in the U.S.A., Bruce Springsteen, 1984 469

Tim O'Brien, On the Rainy River (from The Things They Carried), 1990 472

Richard M. Nixon, Remarks Upon Returning from the People's Republic of China, February 28, 1972 478

William Jefferson Clinton, Remarks at Michigan State University, May 5, 1995 481

George W. Bush, Address on Terrorism Before a Joint Meeting of Congress, September 20, 2001 485

Jimmy Carter, Address Upon Receiving the Nobel Prize, December 10, 2002 491

Work, Opportunity, and Invention

The New Colossus, Emma Lazarus, 1883 499

Huang Zunxian, Explusion of the Immigrants, c. 1884 500

I Hear America Singing, Walt Whitman, 1891 503

I've Been Working on the Railroad 505

Wilbur Wright, Letter to Octave Chanute, May 13, 1900 506

Florence Kelley, Speech at the Convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, July 22, 1905 509

The Jungle, Upton Sinclair, 1906 510

Ellis Island, Henry James, 1907 512

Ernesto Galarza, Barrio Boy, 1971 514

Henry Ford, My Life and Work, 1922 517

Thomas Alva Edison, They Won't Think, 1921 519

Happy Days Are Here Again, Milton Ager and Jack Yellen, 1929 520

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?, E. Y. Harburg and Jay Gorney, 1932 521

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933 523

West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish, 300 U.S. 379 (1937) 528

The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck, 1939 530

Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman, 1949 534

Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev, The Kitchen Debate, Moscow, 1959 536

Manny Steen, Ellis Island Interview, March 22, 1991 539

Groucho Marx, King Leer, 1950 540

Coal Miner's Daughter, Loretta Lynn, 1970 542

Mario Puzo, Choosing a Dream: Italians in Hell's Kitchen, 1971 544

Robert F. Kennedy, Recapturing America's Moral Vision, University of Kansas, March 18, 1968 548

Cesar Chavez, Address to the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco, November 9, 1984 551

My Hometown, Bruce Springsteen, 1984 555

Andy Warhol, POPism, 1975 557

Edward M. Kennedy, Speech to the Democratic Convention, August 12, 1980 558

David Bright, Homeless Children Speak, 1986 561

George Bush, Speech at the Republican Convention, August 18, 1988 562

The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan, 1989 564

Arnold Schwarzenegger, The Education of an American, September 21, 2001 566

Bill Gates, Capitalizing on the "Cognitive Niche," 1999 570

Our Land

God Bless America, Irving Berlin, 1938 577

The Thanksgivings, Iroquois, 1891 578

Twelfth Song of the Thunder; Navajo, 1887 579

Oh! Susanna, Stephen Foster, 1848 580

Old Cotton Fields at Home, Huddie Ledbetter, 1936 582

Light in August, William Faulkner, 1932 584

Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, James Agee, 1941 586

Florida, Elizabeth Bishop, 1946 588

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain, 1884 590

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, Robert Frost, 1923 593

Moby-Dick, Herman Melville, 1851 594

The Sidewalks of New York, James W. Blake and Charles B. Lawlor, 1894 596

New York, New York, Fred Ebb and John Kander, 1977 598

Jazz, Toni Morrison, 1992 599

Chicago, Carl Sandburg, 1916 601

Frederick Jackson Turner, The Significance of the Frontier in American History, 1893 603

The Ballad of Davy Crockett, George Bruns and Tom Blackburn, 1954 606

O Pioneers!, Willa Cather, 1913 608

Northern Utes, Response to the Breakup of Their Reservation, 1903 612

Home on the Range, David Guion, 1930 614

The Old Chisholm Trail, c. 1880 618

The Mud Below, Annie Proulx, 1999 621

Oklahoma, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, 1943 623

I Left My Heart in San Francisco, George C. Cory Jr. and Douglass Cross, 1954 626

Sunset, Jack Kerouac, 1960 628

Surfin' U.S.A., Chuck Berry and Brian Wilson, 1963 630

Los Angeles Notebook, Joan Didion, 1966 632

Big Yellow Taxi, Joni Mitchell, 1970 636

The Wilderness Letter, Wallace Stegner, 1960 638

America, Paul Simon, 1968 640

America, the Beautiful, Katharine Lee Bates, 1893 644

This Land Is Your Land, Woody Guthrie, 1940 646.

Notes:

Includes index.

ISBN:

0786869186

OCLC:

52040923